


of fish and birthday girls

by TheQueenInTheNorth



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Birthday Party, F/M, First Meetings, Meet-Cute, slight crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28370226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenInTheNorth/pseuds/TheQueenInTheNorth
Summary: Jemma is determined to throw her cousin the best birthday party ever, even if the theme is a little unusual for a two-year-old. Lottie's hero? 'Doc Fish', of course - better known as Doctor Leo Fitz.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 24
Kudos: 49





	of fish and birthday girls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Springmagpies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Springmagpies/gifts).



> For Maggie, for being awesome<3

Jemma Simmons excelled at preparation, which was why she had wrangled control of her cousin’s second birthday party from her aunt. That the little girl had picked this specific theme for her birthday party was sort of Jemma’s fault anyway.

She’d left her professional journals lying around; of course a curious child would leaf through them - and Doctor Fitz was featuring quite prominently these days. Lottie had taken a liking to ‘Doc Fish’ for some reason that no one could explain.

Jemma suspected it had to do with his bright, intelligent eyes, but maybe that was just her. Not that she’d noticed his eyes  _ that _ much. She just found his research very fascinating and the articles were very insistent on pairing his findings with his face.

They did the same for her so she wasn’t really surprised. Because she was so young, she had been told. It likely did make for a better cover than just the same old stock images, she could admit that.

“Can’t we have a Ninja Turtles party again?”Hammish asked, dutifully handing Jemma the next piece of decoration nonetheless.

Jemma tried to give him a stern look but couldn’t help but smile at him. Even with his complaining, he was so focused on cutting out the little beakers for his sister’s party, his tongue was sticking out in concentration.

“That was for your birthday,”Jemma reminded him.“Lottie doesn’t like Ninja Turtles. Lottie likes Doctor Fitz.”

“I don’t know why.” He sighed with a world weariness that was comical on a five-year-old.“He didn’t even send a card. Doc Fish is a dumbbutt.”

“He is not a dumbbutt,”Jemma said, even if she was a little inclined to agree.“He is just very busy.”

Though how busy he possibly could be not to find two minutes she didn’t know… She hadn’t expected much when she’d written to him about the party but she had hoped for a card for Lottie, or maybe a signed picture. She certainly wouldn’t have let down a young fan like this!

At least the birthday girl didn’t know she had been let down by her idol and was just happy with her party - especially the life-size cardboard cut-out of Doc Fish.

Daisy had said it was creepy to get that made but Lottie’s excited squeals were wellworth being a little bit creepy. It had been a picture published in a public journal anyway, so it wasn’t like she had stalked his private social media. Which she had, to make sure he wasn’t some weirdo before writing to him, but that was beside the point.

His social media had made him seem nice, not the type to just ignore poor little Lottie. Well, ignore Jemma, technically. And she’d thought it would be such a lovely surprise! She had even planned out the thank you note she was going to send to him…

Jemma shook off that thought as the doorbell rang; a quick headcount told her all of Lottie’s guests were here already. Maybe it was a delivery.

She signalled her aunt across the room that she’d get the door and went to do so. It was not a package. Or, well, it was a package but it wasn’t in the hands of a delivery person.

“Hello,”Doctor Fitz said, smile uncertain.“I’m here for Charlotte’s party?”

“Huh?”Jemma heard herself say.

Those incredibly blue eyes looked concerned, suddenly.“I got an invitation? You’re Jemma Simmons, aren’t you?”

“Yes! Hello!” She cleared her throat, then continued less squeaky,“It’s good to meet you, Doctor Fitz.”

He grimaced.“Just Fitz, please.”

“It’s Jemma, then.” She stepped aside to let him in.“Lottie will be so excited to see you.”

She led him to the living room, where her aunt gasped, Hammish stared in disbelief, and Lottie looked from the new arrival to her beloved cardboard double and back again, her brow furrowing in confusion.

“Hello, Lottie,”Fitz said after a few seconds of this.

Lottie fixed him with attentive eyes - and burst into tears.

“Oh no,”Fitz said, looking to Jemma for help.

“Oh no,”Jemma said, looking to her aunt for help.

“This wouldn’t happen if you were a Ninja Turtle,”Hammish told Fitz as his mum went to pick up his sister.“Are you the real Doc Fish? Because Michelangelo was a person in a costume. But don’t tell Dad, he’ll get upset he didn’t meet the real one. Michaelangelo’s busy being a ninja, you know.”

“Well, I’m real,”Fitz said, visibly relieved Lottie had stopped bawling.

Hammish nodded.“And not busy ‘cause you’re not a ninja. Is it hard being a dreamy? What do you do?”

Fitz blinked at him, nonplussed.“Pardon?”

“He’s an engineer, Hammy,”Jemma corrected.

Hammish frowned at her.“But you said to Daisy that he’s dream-”

“Cake!”Daisy interrupted and steered the boy away, giving Fitz a wave and Jemma a smirk on her way.

“Sorry about him,”Jemma said, ignoring her blush and putting as much conviction as possible into her voice as she added,“He gets confused sometimes.”

Fitz nodded but he was turning red too.

“What’s in the box?”Jemma asked, more to change the subject than out of real curiosity.

“Oh, uhm, a present for Lottie.” Fitz balanced the box in one arm to rub at the back of his neck with his free hand.“It’s a toddler engineering set. They don’t make those, did you know? So I modified - it’s probably stupid.”

“It sounds great,”Jemma said.

“Fish?”a timid voice behind her said.

Lottie was rarely so shy but meeting Fitz had done the trick. There was a possibility she’d thought he was just make-believe like her picture books, now that Jemma thought about it.

She turned around and crouched down.“Are you ready to meet Fitz?”

“Okay,”Lottie said and held her arms out to be picked up. From the safety of Jemma’s arms, she waved at Fitz.“Hi, Fish.”

“Hi there, Lottie. Happy birthday!”

He practically beamed and Jemma melted a little. He really was dreamy.

Two hours later, she didn’t just think he was dreamy and a genius in his field. Now she also thought he was patient and funny and sweet, and Daisy’s smirks made it clear she was not being subtle about it.

With the party over and Lottie down for her nap, Fitz was ready to leave but Jemma wasn’t ready to just see him go.

“I’ll walk you to your car, at least,”she said.

“It’s not very far,”Fitz replied and gave her that sweet smile of his.“But I’d like that.”

They were barely out of the driveway when he blurted out,“I have to tell you something.”

Oh no. There it was. He’d tell her she was a weird almost-stalker and to stay away from him, that he’d only humoured her for Lottie’s sake and -

“I love your work,”Fitz said.“I was hoping you were that Jemma Simmons. The biochem whiz.”

Okay, not what she’d expected.“Really?”

He nodded.“I was thinking we could work together some time?”

“Absolutely.” She smiled at him.“And maybe we could go out for dinner some time?”

Fitz smiled back.“Absolutely.”

By the time Lottie got to be the flower girl at their wedding, she could pronounce ‘Fitz’ but she stuck with calling him ’Fish’ anyway.


End file.
